Lidl opens its first logistic center in western Romania

The new facility, developed in collaboration with Romanian construction company Bog’Art, opened its doors in November, being Lidl’s fourth warehouse in Romania, which will supply 45 stores located in the south-western part of the country.
With a built area of over 45.000 sqm and a land area of 160.000 sqm, the new building is the most modern facility the company has ever built in Romania, in terms of technologies used for development.
“Our decision to create a logistic center built in Lugoj came as a natural evolution, due to our company’s fast growth on the domestic market. A key factor in choosing the location was its proximity to the A1 and A6 highways, which helps us optimize the routes for the vehicles transporting the products,” said Claudiu Rizea, expansion manager for Lidl Romania.
Energy-efficient modern technologies were used in the construction of the center, Rizea explained. Along with the concrete that came from demolitions, the developers used recycled as well as recyclable materials. The building itself has a low impact on the environment, representing what is generally called a “green construction”.
“This project was a challenge due to its construction solutions, execution terms and new technologies. Apart from the materials used in building the warehouse, we had to implement environment protection procedures, by reducing the quantity of waste on the site by 75 per cent. The heating system was designed to reduce its energy consumption by 50 per cent, by reusing the heat saved from the cooling systems,” Sorin Greu, general manager of Bog’Art, told Business Arena.
Two hundred new jobs have been created following the opening of this new Lidl project, which includes amenities such as a canteen, conference rooms, locker rooms and, last but not least, a football field.
“The warehouse facilitates the supply of merchandise for all our stores in the south-western area. That’s where all the processes take place, allowing us to ensure the delivery of products on time. Stores are the customers of logistic centers. We deliver the products to stores, which employ a total of 900 people, and we daily receive 4,000 pallets of merchandise. We have trained hard our Lugoj employees, at the logistic centers we own in Chiajna, Nedelea and Iernut,” explained Christina Lang, manager for the regional headquarters in Lugoj.
Lidl is steadily gaining experience on the Romanian market. The company officially opened the first stores under the Lidl brand in October 2011, and it has gradually expanded throughout the country. According to the company’s officials, Lidl currently employs thousands of people in Romania, in its stores, regional distribution centers and at its headquarters. With each new opening, the company adds some 30 new jobs.
Lidl has secured itself a significant slice of the discount market, after it took over the Plus retailer in 2010. Plus opened its first stores in Romania in 2005 and it eventually reached a network of 100 stores and over 300 million euros in turnover.
The German retailer focuses on product quality in its effort to stand out from the competition on the retail market. Lidl offers over 1,300 food products and more than 2,000 non-food items. It relies on premium brands, which account for 80 per cent of all its products. Many of those products are produced in countries like Italy, France, Germany or Spain. Offering such products at a fair price contributes to the company’s success on the domestic retail market, officials added.